Like aliens in the movies, corporations are taking over

Friday, October 31, 1997

Friday, October 31, 1997

Like aliens in the movies, corporations are taking over

INTERNATIONAL: In a quest for economic "globalization," big businesses forget that the employees have to live on their meager incomes

By Stacy Hae Lim Lee

Everyone seems to be obsessed with aliens lately. "The X-Files" has everyone wondering about the great beyond. The Democrats and Republicans are blaming "illegal immigrants" for the demise of our beloved economy; however, there have been sightings of another kind. Corporations are taking over our reality. They have been sighted in every major and minor developing nation, zapping up resources and human labor and sucking up profits. The "globalization" of our economy marks the takeover of the world to incorporate space ships, with no loyalty or nationality, but with the ability to suck in profits at a rate unheard of in our lifetimes.

How do they do it? Well, in the tradition of cheesy sci-fi alien films, these aliens - the chief executive officers) - demand, "Take me to your leader." When they get in contact with our "leaders," they zap them with their mysterious green goop (the mighty dollar) and ask for development of documents such as the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation, and Structural Adjustment Programs (from the World Bank). Next time a politician comes your way, take a close look into his or her eyes and you will see the zombified stare, characteristic of those who have been "taken" by the aliens. What do these documents do? Well, they have the net effect of a new global constitution, ruling a corporately controlled global economy. It decreases the sovereignty of nations, the people therein, and therefore, creates a world that only serves those who worship (and know how to manipulate) the dollar, and not human life, the environment or future generations.

Nike is one of the biggest spaceships around. Phil Knight, its leader, is the sixth-richest man in the United States. He is worth over $5 billion, and he doesn't even really make shoes. All Nike does is market and develop the shoes. Nike spent $978 million on its marketing plan last year alone. The shoes are actually subcontracted to smaller factories who then make the shoe to fit Nike's demands. Nike has been contracting factories in Asia for over 20 years, expertly manipulating Asian labor.

Currently, Nike is mainly operating in three countries - Indonesia, Vietnam and China. Was it the scenery that drew Nike to these places? Not really. The global constitutional documents like GATT and the newly forming APEC allow corporations more "flexibility," or the ability to hop from one country to another, depending on whose conditions are the most favorable - favorable to corporations, that is.

There have been extensive documentation on Nike's inhumane labor practices. Over 20,000 workers have gone on strike to protest the severe treatment and substandard wages they receive. The campaigns in the United States are in response to these workers' demands to raise their wages. When the Indonesian workers demanded a wage increase from $2.20 to $2.40 per day, many workers were fired.

The minimum wage in Indonesia is only $2.40 a day after a successful campaign of workers to receive a raise of 20 cents. When this law was enacted, the Nike factories requested to be exempt from the new law, and that exemption was granted. However, after successful international campaigns, Nike has finally begun to comply with the minimum wage. However, recent studies in China have found that Nike is paying well below the minimum wages, and is breaking 10 Chinese labor laws. Nike has recently led a countercampaign to the mounting facts against it by distributing press releases, hiring former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to research the allegations, purchasing full-page ads in every major newspaper, and inviting community and student organizers to lavish dinners to explain away the accusations. While Nike has been working hard on this far-reaching public-relations campaign, it has failed to do one simple thing - raise the workers' wages.

There is always the argument that wages overseas cannot be compared to those of the U.S. That is not what supporters and the workers are demanding. They are demanding a livable wage which takes into account a 40-hour work week and the amount of money necessary to subsist. Indonesian livable wage is calculated at $4.25 a day. Countries such as Indonesia purposefully set their wages below the poverty line to "attract" foreign spaceships. In one of Nike's press releases, the firm claims to be paying its workers at the minimum wage of 17 cents a month. The reason that is true is because the workers log up to 200 hours of overtime a month to make up for the low wages. Without that overtime they would not be able to survive.

Three-fourths of developing nations are under structural-adjustment loans offered by the U.S.-controlled World Bank. These loans demand the nations take on draconian austerity measures (such as decreasing social, medical and educational services), increasing taxes on the majority poor in their nation, and altering their economic profiles to service the needs of industrialized nations and the gigantic and ever-present spaceships. It is not a coincidence that the countries now suffering from underdevelopment, huge debts and environmental disasters were also the countries ravaged by the imperialist drive of the now industrialized and thriving countries in the "north."

It is now our responsibility to globalize our mentalities and learn more about the space ships, the policies they are thriving off of and who key players are in this new imperialist game to increase profits at the cost of human and all other natural life on this earth. This type of information is suppressed in our educational institutions who are structured to perpetuate and advance these systems of exploitation and oppression. Support USAC and the many student organizations in the struggle to create a socially responsible student store by kicking out Nike until they respect human rights. Call us at 310-825-8545 for more information.

In an age where CEOs make 200 times more than the average worker (U.S. workers), a swoosh on a T-shirt means more than a human life. Everyone can talk about "market value" but not human rights. It is no wonder the spaceships have landed and thrived here on our planet.

To learn more about globalization, corporate accountability and the campaigns that are resisting the invasion, check out Global Exchanges' Web site, http://www.globalexchange.org - they have the latest updates on the anti-Nike campaign, international-solidarity campaigns and other things you can do to support alternative development strategies.